Snowdrops
by setphaserstolimp
Summary: Akako is the heir to her clan and the daughter of the Aisukage of Yukigakure. If that wasn't enough, she's stuck on a team with a hostile kunoichi and a slave-driver sensei. If she's going to become her clan head, and one day take the hat from her father, she's going to need all the help she can get.


**Hey everyone, this is Phaser with a brand new story for your enjoyment. Hopefully.**

**This is the first time I'm attempting to write a Naruto story, and it has actually been a few years since I watched the show so please bear with with me.**

**If I make any obvious or stupid mistakes, please feel free to tell me.**

**ANYWAY**

**This story will center around my OC, Akako Uinta. I have taken many liberties with Yukigakure and it's structure, but administrative and educational, so please don't correct me on that.**

**I am aware that it's unusual for a village to have Genin teams with only two Genin, but I figure that in a smaller village like Yukigakure it's alright.**

**So, please, sit back and enjoy.**

**I hope you like it!**

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><p>In comparison to Shinobi villages like Konohagakure, Yukigakure's academy is very unique.<p>

Every child in Yukigakure is expected to at least sign up for the academy, though at least half drop out before their third year. This is because the population in Yukigakure, and thus the Shinobi forces, are much smaller than most. It is an attempt to fill their ranks, and none begrudge it.

Despite the dropout rate, however, there is a large number who stick to it, and graduate.

The curriculum for said students is much harder than in other villages as well. Slacking is not tolerated, and those who slack or skip usually end up in detention with much more work than they would have had if they had just stayed in class and payed attention.

Akako, at eleven years old, was _not_ one usually found in such situations.

Akako, in fact, was the epitome of a perfect student.

To be expected, as heir to the Uinta line.

So the instructor on duty had to wonder, as he stared at her diligently doing her assigned work, why she was here at all. He wondered this for an hour, only taking his eyes off her the few times he needed to reprimand the other students in the room, until curiosity got the better of him.

"Uinta-kun," he called.

Akako jumped in her seat, drawing a chuckle from the Chuunin. She had been so focused on getting her work done that she had forgotten she wasn't alone.

"Ah, yes, Hama-sensei?" she asked, setting her pencil down and giving him her undivided attention(another thing most of the instructors liked about her).

"Forgive me if this seems forward, Uinta-kun, but… why exactly are you here?" he asked, leaning forward on his desk and lacing his fingers together. His question drew the curiosity of the other three Genin, and they all waited for her answer.

Akako's face turned red from embarrassment and she looked down, mumbling her answer into her paper.

Hama frowned, along with the other students. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"I got into a fight with Anami-san," she repeated louder, shame seeping into her voice. Hama 'oh'ed and nodded his head.

The feud between Akako Uinta and Suzue Anami was well known throughout the academy. It had started years before when Akako had tried to befriend the lonely girl and ended up having her drink dumped on her head.

Akako usually didn't lash out violently, though, no matter how much Suzue baited her, so whatever Suzue had said must've been worse than usual.

Of course, it was entirely possible that Suzue was the one who initiated the fight. But if that were the case, she'd be here in detention.

"Ah, and where is Anami-kun?" he asked, directing the question to everyone in the room.

"She skipped out," said one of the boys from the back of the room.

Hama sighed. "Of course she did," he muttered. If Akako was known for her dedication to her school work, Suzue was known for the opposite. Suzue got more detentions than any of the other children, as she had a rather bad habit of _frequent_ skipping. And on the days that she did attend class, she slept more often than not.

It was then the clock struck five and Hama had to release the students.

"Don't let me see any of you here again," he said as he collected their papers and they left, earning a chorus of _"Yes, Hama-sensei."_ He knew it was an empty promise; at least two of them would end up in detention again.

Akako left the academy with her hands in her pockets and hood up to defend her face from the howling wind. She kept her head down and bemoaned her bad luck. Her dad was gonna kick her butt when she got home, and she couldn't blame him.

Her she was, five years into her academy education, and she had gone and gotten herself into detention.

_Detention!_

She'd never been in detention before!

She sighed as she neared her family's complex. Hopefully that would mean her father would go easy on her, but not likely.

As she walked through the manor gates she was assaulted by a gigantic beast of an animal. A black and white malamute named Ryuu-chan, a gift from her Baa-chan to her younger brother, who followed the dog in tackling the poor academy student.

"Aneki, aneki!" the four year-old child cheered as Akako swept him into a big hug once she managed to push the malamute off her.

"Ototo-chan!" she exclaimed happily as she spun around with him, Ryuu-chan running circles around them.

"How was your day, my little snow ball," she asked once they calmed down. She settled the boy on her hip so she could carry him into the house.

"It was great!" Aoi exclaimed with a smile that seemed too big for his head. "Kaa-san and Takara-baa-chan took me to th'restaurant an' all the ninjas tol' me stories an' stuff an' and Kaa-san lemme make tea!"

"She did, did she?" Akako asked with a smile. She pushed open the door and let Ryuu-chan in before following. "Did you serve it to the Shinobi?"

"Nah, Takara-baa-chan did. But the all said they liked it!" he told her.

"Well I'm glad they did," she said, letting him down once she'd pulled off his shoes and set them aside. "Does that mean you're going to work at the restaurant?"

"Nope! I'mma become a ninja like you an' otou-san!" he said, hopping a few steps ahead of her and then striking a pose. Akako snorted at the ridiculousness of it, but Aoi didn't care. He ran deeper into the house, punching and kicking and making sound effects to go along. Ryuu-chan barked excitedly and took off after him.

They disappeared into the dining room, followed quickly by a loud crash and the sound of her mother scolding Aoi and Ryuu-chan for running in the house again.

Akako shook her head and began taking off her own shoes. That kid was just a ball of boundless energy, which was probably why he and Ryuu-chan got along so well.

She stood in the doorway for a few moments, debating what to do. Her father would be home any minute for dinner and, as much as she didn't want to, she'd have to face him over her detention.

Logically she knew she was making an iceberg out of an icicle, but the fact that she had gotten into a physical fight with a classmate… it was downright shameful. It was embarrassing, as the heir to her clan, to sink so low. She had brought shame on her family over a stupid, off-hand comment.

She sighed and steeled herself for the inevitable. She'd be honest with her father and take whatever punishment he deemed appropriate. She was going to be a ninja, dammit! That meant not cowering in the face of adversity.

With that in mind, she headed down the hallway and into the dining room after Aoi.

"I got into a fight today," Akako said once her family had settled into their seats at the table, after they had all given their thanks for the meal.

The entire table went silent, and even Ryuu-chan stopped chewing on his toy.

Her father, Jinsoku, set his chopsticks down and gave her a stern look.

"A fight?" he asked gruffly, to which she nodded, keeping her eyes on him. "Do you want to tell me why?"

Akako sighed quietly and nodded.

"It… Anami-san said something and I… over reacted," she told him.

Jinsoku sighed through his nose and frowned. It was very unusual for his daughter to misbehave so badly, and if she hadn't come out and told him herself he wouldn't have believed it.

"What did Anami-san say?" he asked. He knew full well who Suzue Anami was; it was his job as Aisukage to know. He was also aware of their… differences, but he had hoped Akako would be the bigger person and not give in to the other girl's taunting.

At the question, Akako did look down. She glance to her mother, who frowned in concern, and then back at her father.

"She… called kaa-san a… street walker," she told him. Well, Suzue had called her mother a filthy whore, but Akako wasn't going to say that with little Aoi at the table.

Jinsoku made no outwardly reaction, but both her mother and grandmother drew back in shock. Aoi looked between them in confusion.

"Wha's a street walker?" he asked, though he received no answer.

"You are to go straight to bed with no desert tonight," Jinsoku said, which Akako accepted. "I will decide what the rest of your punishment will be tonight."

After that proclamation, the family went back to dinner in total silence.

Later that night, while Akako was sitting on her bed and gazing out her window at the beautiful lights that danced across the sky every night, she heard a knock at her door.

"Come in," she said, looking away from the window and to her father, who took a seat at her desk chair.

"What you did today was foolish," he told her. She nodded, she was already aware of that.

"I've brought shame to our family."

Jinsoku sighed. "I understand your need to defend your mother," he said, standing up from the chair in order to sit next to her on the bed. "And I know you take your position as heir very seriously. Why did you let her get to you?"

Akako looked down in shame. She didn't know why, she just remembered hearing Suzue say those words so casually and the feeling of… rage that bubbled up inside her. She had just snapped, and she wasn't sure why.

This rivalry between her and Suzue had been going on for years, and there was no reason for it. As far as Akako knew, she'd never done anything to the girl. And if she had, Suzue certainly wasn't going to tell her why.

"Maybe I just got tired of it, you know?" she said, looking up at her dad. Jinsoku gave her one of his rare, soft looks and nodded, urging her to continue.

"We've been… fighting, if you can call it that, since we met and… I just don't know why," she tried to explain, leaning against him. He put an arm around her and held her gently. "I've tried talking to her, I've tried being nice, I've tried ignoring her but somehow… she always manages to get under my skin and push my buttons in all the wrong ways. I guess I just got sick of it."

Jinsoku hummed and gave her a small smile. "You know… when I was your age, I had a problem just like yours," he said. She looked at him curiously and he nodded.

"Yup, a boy by the name Junko Nakamatsu." He chuckled a bit at the memory. "We got along about as well as you an Anami-san, and truth be told… we got into pointless fights a lot,"

Akako blinked. "You got into pointless fights?" she asked. Her dad didn't seem the type to get into any fight he didn't need to.

Jinsoku laughed. "I was a very rambunctious child, you know. Your jii-san would've had tons of stories to tell you. Anyway, Junko and I would go at it like cats and dogs most of the time, and I ended up in a lot of trouble because of it."

"Did you ever stop fighting?" Akako asked, now fully invested in the story.

"Stop? We became best friends. Inseparable, even. We were put on the same team when we graduated and we were great together."

"What ever happened to him?"

Jinsoku's smile seemed to vanish at that and he gave her a very sad look. "That's… a story for another time," he said. Then he stood up and gestured for her to lie down.

"I think," he started, tucking her in with a grin when she started to squirm, "that just this once, we can overlook your little mistake, hmm?"

He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight, my little snowdrop," he said before turning to leave. At the doorway, he stopped and looked at her.

"I know it's hard for you, but… please try not to fight anymore," he said.

"I will," she promised. And Akako never went back on a promise.

He smiled and left, closing the door behind him, and she drifted off with the rainbow of the Aurora shining across her face.

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><p><strong>So that was chapter one.<strong>

**Notable characters so far:**

**Akako Uinta - the main hero**

**Aoi Uinta - the little brother of the main hero**

**Nyoko Uinta - Akako's mother**

**Jinsoku Uinta - Akako's father and the Shodaime Aisukage**

**Takara Uzumaki - Akako's grandmother(yes, Akako is related to Naruto, no she's not closely related, and no, she has never met nor heard of him before - She's his second cousin, Nyoko and Kushina were cousins)**

**Ryuu-chan - Aoi's dog(No, he's not a ninken, he's just a pet)**

**Suzue Anami - Akako's rival/enemy**

**Hama-Sensei - doesn't matter, this is pretty much his only apperance**

**Junko Nakamatsu - Old friend of Jinsoku, wonder what happened to him**

**As more characters show up, they will be listed at the ends of chapters and given a brief description. This is for my benefit as much as yours, as I like to keep track of them.**


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